What price loyalty in these fickle days of mob rule?

What does supporting a team actually amount to these days? Is it nothing more than a financial transaction, where a fan pays to turn up but is under no obligation whatsoever to show any loyalty in return?

It appears so.

Events at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday were part of a growing trend, where vast swathes of the football audience have abandoned the traditional idea of being the so-called 12th man, urging their team on.

Instead, at many grounds, indifference is the order of the day. It’s all sighs and moans, frustrated grumbles and gripes. When the ball runs over the foot of the full back and out of play, there is an audible explosion of fury. When the defender misplaces his long pass, howls ring down from the stands.

In the past it was considered a collective sign of weakness to betray any unhappiness with your own club. Now everyone’s a noisy critic.

Fans' target: Emmanuel Eboue is substituted at the Emirates on Saturday

As a consequence, playing at home isn’t always considered the advantage it used to be. It’s an invitation to be sniped at in an atmosphere of heightened expectation — and woe betide any player who messes up.

Emmanuel Eboue was the latest victim of the Glums at The Emirates on Saturday. His appearance as a first-half substitute was greeted with unashamed groans of hostility. Rather than encourage a player returning out of position after five weeks’ absence, he was abused. Needless to say, any sliver of confidence he may have had disintegrated.

Manager Arsene Wenger withdrew this shell- shocked individual to prevent him making the mistake that could cost Arsenal the win, and his departure was greeted with a cheer that was possibly louder than the reaction to Arsenal’s only goal.

An enjoyable Match Of The Day 2 programme on Sunday night included an item about the facilities for blind spectators and visited the Emirates Stadium to illustrate how the visually impaired are catered for.

The item was particularly memorable for the moment when the articulate blind chap featured in the film shouted ‘Get him off!’ at Eboue, shaking his head in frustration.The piece then cut to him chuckling ‘we got him off’ when the player’s number was finally held up on the sideline.

This is how the mob works. The guy couldn’t see, but he was certain Eboue deserved the treatment that had been meted out to him.

There was a time when supporters’ pride would not allow open displays of dissent. It was considered treachery, because it betrayed a weakness to rivals, and any player’s shortcomings would be swept away in a roar of encouragement.

I have endured wingers who would trip over the ball, full backs who appeared to have their boots on the wrong feet, strikers whose heading was so wayward I swore they had heads shaped like a 50 pence piece, but I didn’t scream for them to get off. They were playing for my team.

That affinity has gone now.

When Liverpool went to the top of the Premier League with a home draw against Fulham last week, they were booed off Anfield. When Chelsea lost to Arsenal, suffering only their second home League defeat in four years, they left the field to a resounding chorus of boos. They were still in second place.

In the past, I have defended the rights of football folk, the basis of the argument being the game has spent so long trying to turn supporters into consumers, they can’t start telling the customer they are not always right.

I have even understood how past frustrations boil over with England, where club loyalties, coupled with the obvious discrepancy between pay and performance, feeds an atmosphere of derision at Wembley.

But it’s ridiculous.

Obviously, there is plenty to be thankful for, particularly at the top 30 clubs in the land. The stadia are modern, the facilities light years away from the squalor of the 1980s.

There is less chance of finding a dart stuck in your forehead midway through the first half, and practically no chance of being crushed by a collapsing wall, metal fence or being burned alive in a wooden pyre masquerading as a grandstand.

Yet, in all that corporate modernity, the sense of togetherness has gone. This is not a jumpers-for-goalposts bout of nostalgia, it’s a simple observation that it is rare to feel that communal excitement in a ground these days; that swell of emotion where the crowd is as one — unless they’re booing their own defender, that is.

Grounds are shamefully quiet. Many are like Twickenham without a sweet chariot. But then cheering is harder from behind the glass of an executive box. It’s difficult when half the stand has bolted early to get to the front of the executive suite sushi queue. And, at £100 a ticket, who can blame them?

We’ve created a game that is the most fickle money can buy and the Tobys and Hugos will no doubt prove it tomorrow night by cheering Eboue on to the field like a conquering hero.

Colour is just a red herring in Ince case

Paul Ince is a black football manager.

I mention this as it probably hasn’t crossed your mind lately. I mention it because there is a flawed argument doing the rounds that claims the Blackburn Rovers manager is being put under pressure only because of the colour of his skin.

Conspiracy theory: Ince

This might have been a factor before he was appointed to the job, but if anyone still regards it as an issue they are looking for excuses.

Nor does Ince’s own conspiracy theory — that he is victimised because of his Manchester United background — have any credence. It didn’t seem to cause too many problems for his predecessor at Ewood Park, Mark Hughes, did it?

Ince is feeling the heat because his team are losing. Any manager in the relegation zone who has gone 10 Premier League games without a win in a run dating back to September, including five successive defeats, would find themselves under scrutiny.

Ince obviously has the potential to do well and I hope he rides out the storm and emerges stronger because of it.

But, if he is sacked, it will be because the Blackburn board do not like the colour of the bank statements dropping through the club’s front door, not because of the colour of his previous club’s shirts or his skin.

Ince will be a victim of impatience, not prejudice.

Climate change makes fossil fools of F1

Formula One is in dire trouble when it is no longer considered sexy and, right now, it looks as unfashionable as Peter Stringfellow in a thong.

Sponsors are starting to fear that slapping their logo on to the side of a car is little more than a two-fingered response to the prevailing mood.

It wasn’t just disintegrating revenue that led Honda to pull the plug on their F1 project; part of it was down to the wider cost to their image and concerns they were participating in something that was being viewed as decidedly vulgar.

Formula One is heading into Concorde territory. Beautiful as it was, the supersonic plane became an anachronistic luxury almost overnight; a throwback to more adventurous times, when technological achievement topped concerns about practicality or responsibility.

It had power, speed and glamour, but it wasn’t enough. And, depressing as it may be, F1 will choke like Concorde unless it quickly shifts the carbon footprint pressed into its throat.

The brash commodities F1 has always sold itself with seem horribly dated.

Scratch under the surface of job cuts at Swindon factories and diminishing buyers and you find Honda recently announced it would be ‘the car industry’s most environmentally-friendly company by 2015’.

Sitting on the grid with a four-miles-to-the-gallon engine that is chucked out after every two races somewhat contradicted their bold announcement.

The truth is Formula One is as environmentally friendly as a flatulent Jeremy Clarkson burning a fridge full of plastic bags in the Sizewell B nuclear reactor.

In the past, the natural reaction has been to say ‘so what?’ But Honda’s withdrawal has changed the argument.

F1 now has to find a way to ally itself with the changing demands of the public and its sponsors or find itself going out of business.

Rather than consume hundreds of millions of pounds chasing a mile or two of speed here and there, that same level of ingenuity and investment could go into finding ways to improve efficiency.

Team budget caps, new regulations on fuel stops to force manufacturers to produce better miles-per-gallon figures, a concentration on endurance and reliability, more durable tyres, fewer staff and an active encouragement of radical new designs and engine systems to shift the emphasis away from burning more and more petrol.

Will they listen? When F1 bosses held a crisis meeting they gathered in Monaco, so it doesn’t sound like they have fully embraced the idea just yet.

...But there's time to turn the corner

How can F1 save itself? Here are some suggested alternatives:

● Stewards ordered to pull Lewis Hamilton over for no apparent reason every few laps to improve his car’s mileage, following successful trials of the scheme over the past two seasons.

● FIA President Max Mosley to limit prostitute use to four per session and rent out spanking video collection to raise funds.

● Every GP to be held in Monaco or Switzerland to cut trave l costs, as this is where the drivers live.

● Flavio Briatore’s sunbed use capped at six days a week.

●Proportion of all the power used at races provided by massive static electricity charges generated by petrol heads’ anoraks.

● Ferrari to replace Kimi Raikkonen with cardboard cut-out in effort to trim contract costs and extract more value from his media appearances.

● Singapore’s night-time GP to be staged by candlelight.

● Madcap plan to award medals made of gold, silver and bronze to drivers ditched and replaced by rounds of applause of varying volume.

● Ferrari’s motor home chef to cut back on use of Parmesan with immediate effect.

● Bernie Ecclestone’s daughters thrown out into the wide world with instructions to ‘get real jobs’.

HOW can F1 save itself?Here are some suggestedalternatives:● Stewards orderedto pull Lewis Hamiltonover for no apparentreason every few lapsto improve his car’smileage, followingsuccessful trials of thescheme over the pasttwo seasons.● FIA President MaxMosley to limit prostituteuse to four persession and rent outspanking video collectionto raise funds.● Every GP to be heldin Monaco or Switzerlandto cut trave lcosts, as this is wherethe drivers live.● Flavio Briatore’ssunbed use capped atsix days a week.●Proportion of all thepower used at racesprovided by massive...but there’s timeto turn the cornerst a t i c e l e c t r i c i t ycharges generated bypetrol heads’ anoraks.● Ferrari to replaceKimi Raikkonen withcardboard cut-out ineffort to trim contractcosts and extractmore value from hismedia appearances.● Singapore’s nighttimeGP to be stagedby candlelight.● Madcap plan toaward medals madeof gold, silver andbronze to driversditched and replacedby rounds of applauseof varying volume.● Ferrari’s motorhome chef to cut backon use of Parmesanwith immediate effect.● Bernie Ecclestone’sdaughters thrown outinto the wide worldwith instructions to‘get real jobs’.HOW can F1 save itself?Here are some suggestedalternatives:● Stewards orderedto pull Lewis Hamiltonover for no apparentreason every few lapsto improve his car’smileage, followingsuccessful trials of thescheme over the pasttwo seasons.● FIA President MaxMosley to limit prostituteuse to four persession and rent outspanking video collectionto raise funds.● Every GP to be heldin Monaco or Switzerlandto cut trave lcosts, as this is wherethe drivers live.● Flavio Briatore’ssunbed use capped atsix days a week.●Proportion of all thepower used at racesprovided by massive...but there’s timeto turn the cornerst a t i c e l e c t r i c i t ycharges generated bypetrol heads’ anoraks.● Ferrari to replaceKimi Raikkonen withcardboard cut-out ineffort to trim contractcosts and extractmore value from hismedia appearances.● Singapore’s nighttimeGP to be stagedby candlelight.● Madcap plan toaward medals madeof gold, silver andbronze to driversditched and replacedby rounds of applauseof varying volume.● Ferrari’s motorhome chef to cut backon use of Parmesanwith immediate effect.● Bernie Ecclestone’sdaughters thrown outinto the wide worldwith instructions to‘get real jobs’.